Bannon will plunge into 2008 for Caring Unlimited

SANFORD — The trick to jumping into the icy Atlantic on New Year's Day is to not stay out late the night before. You have to get your rest.

Fleurette Bannon, of Springvale, offers this advice for anyone who'd like to join her at Caring Unlimited's "Atlantic Plunge" at Gooch's Beach in Kennebunk this Tuesday. Sure enough, Bannon said she will take it easy on New Year's Eve.

Beyond that, though, there's little one can do to prepare for jumping into waters people usually only find inviting in July and August.

Basically, Bannon said during a recent interview, "you just have to do it and know you'll feel wonderful afterward."

There is, however, one rule.

"No wetsuits," Bannon said. "That's cheating."

She speaks from experience. On Jan. 1 this year, Bannon, 77, joined scores of others who stripped from their coats, scarves, mittens and hats and charged into the ocean on what was definitely a cold, windy and sleeting morning. It was all for a good cause, of course; with the help of sponsors, they took the dip to raise funds and awareness for Caring Unlimited, the Sanford-based organization committed to ending domestic violence.

"I felt wonderful because I met a challenge I made to myself, but also I raised awareness about all of the work that Caring Unlimited does," Bannon said.

Bannon said she loves the beach but does not like to go into the water during the summertime because it's too cold. How, then, can she possibly run headlong into frigid waves during the dead of winter?

It's all relative. In July and August, the weather's sweltering and the water's freezing. In January, however . . .

"The water's actually a couple of degrees warmer than the air," she explained.

Bannon serves on Caring Unlimited's board of directors. Last year, she decided to take the plunge as a way to help the organization raise funds and get the word out about its mission, programs and services. Thanks to sponsors, she personally racked up a little more than $1,500 of the $18,000 that the seventh annual event netted.

This time around, Bannon hoped only to surpass that $1,500. As of last Thursday, she had already collected $3,000.

Every penny counts. Jill Barkley, Caring Unlimited's public awareness and community support coordinator, says the fight to end domestic violence knows no season.

Lots of people have signed up to take Tuesday's plunge, Barkley added. She said she has contacted all of the candidates for U.S. Rep. Tom Allen's seat in the 1st Congressional District, but only one of them — Ethan Strimling — has responded and committed to take on the Atlantic.

Anyone interested in joining Bannon, Strimling and the others on New Year's Day can call 490-3227 to receive a sponsor form and ask questions. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. on Gooch's Beach in Kennebunk on Tuesday.

Caring Unlimited supporter Becky Wirtes founded the organization's annual "Atlantic Plunge" in 2001, according to a sponsor form Barkley provided. The event is one of Caring Unlimited's major fundraisers.

Caring Unlimited helped 3,566 individuals affected by domestic abuse in 2006, the sponsor form reads. The organization helped these people through a variety of its programs and services — a 24-hour hot line; an emergency shelter; transitional housing and services; legal assistance; community support groups; school-based intervention; and prevention and community response programs. The hotline's number is 1-800-239-7298.

Bannon said she never knew the scope of Caring Unlimited's services and impact throughout the community until she joined its board. She added that she knew she could pull off the organization's "Atlantic Plunge" because she had met a different kind of physical challenge only a few years before. In 2001, she took part in an Avon-sponsored 60-mile walk in Boston to raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer.

A long walk and a short dip may seem to have little in common, but there is one detail that links the Boston walk and the Atlantic plunge for Bannon — her bright red lobster hat. She bought the hat for the Boston walk because she wanted to help put Maine's recognizable stamp on the event — even though a lot of folks that day asked her if she hailed from Cape Cod.

Bannon wore the lobster hat during last New Year's Day's "Atlantic Plunge." On Tuesday, she'll wear a jester's hat.

"If you do something this foolish, and if you're going to feel foolish, then you might as well look foolish, so you can laugh," she said.